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2023 NBA Draft Megathread

seattlejazzfan said:
to me it's weird that Scoot was given so much shine in the first place. do people understand what this league is about? it's about length and shooting. Scoot is a short guy who can't shoot. that doesn't mean he can't become a good shooter or that he can't overcome his height with strength, athleticism and defense and be a damn good player, but just the fact that he HAS to overcome those things puts him behind the 8 ball from the start and makes his risk/reward that early in the draft disproportionate. odds are against him. it's a fact that it's really difficult for a little guy who can't shoot to have superstar impact. Westbrook is bigger than Scoot, but even he, ultimately was limited in his ability to win at the highest level for those reasons. and i didn't even mention the fact that his actual production was very much underwhelming as well. so besides being a short dude who can't shoot, he just hasn't been that good in his two post HS seasons.

When you look at the legit superstars in the league, its a bunch of dudes that are 6'7"+ and Steph - the greatest shooter ever. Scoot's archetype just makes it extremely difficult to have that major impact you expect from a top 2 overall pick. The best little guys like Mitchell, Ja, Trae, etc, those guys can put up numbers, but they are always going to be on the outside looking in in terms of being the best guy on a championship team and in terms of being one of the top 5-7 players in the league.
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Great post! Absolutely agree
 
Handlogten's Heros said:
And I know this is the dumbest **** ever... but the fact that Lauri and Walker genuinely seem to like each other a lot is a solid reason to keep the pairing together. You will accomplish more with guys that like each other and after our last two stars low key hated each other... I'm ready for some of the good vibes to continue.
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This really isn’t dumb. I agree with that. I think players can play above expectations if they like each other and get along.

The real question is do they eat lunch together sometimes?
 
Have the people bagging on Scoot even seen him play? Sure he isn't tall, but he probably isn't much different in size than Donovan Mitchell. Imagine Mitchell when he came into the league, but add better court awareness and vision, better passing, and more unselfish. Their bodies don't appear much different in build except Scoot might be a little more cut. Scoot's shooting is at least as good as Donovan was coming into the league. It is fair to say you don't want to give up Lauri and/or a bunch of first round picks, but don't pretend Scoot is either Muggsy Bogues or Spud Webb height or even just terrible.
 
Trading the Finnisher is not even remotely unreasonable if it is for someone like a rookie D Rose, which Scoot is going to be and then some.
I would do that trade every day of the week and twice on Christmas . There some mf said it.
I also know damn well Danny would as well if the Blazers would bite.

The Finnisher + #16 for #3,#23, Simons Sharpe and the Blazers first unprotected 2 years after they give one up to the Bulls.

just kidding
 
I've been watching the league a long time. If an 18 year-old prospect is good enough to be a high first-round pick, there is a much better-than-average likelihood that this player will become an All Star. There was a period of time, before the one-and-done era, where many of the best players normally did come directly out of high school.

Aside from generational guys like Lebron and Luka, examples include: Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, Amare Stoudemire, Jermaine O'neale, Dwight Howard, Devin Booker, Josh Smith, Andrew Bynum....Al Jefferson wasn't an All Star, but still a good pick. Jonathan Bender and Shaun Livingston were taken out by injuries. Darius Miles and Sebastian Telfair were busts.

I think if a guy is good enough to be an NBA lottery pick at 18 y.o., that actually matters. GG and Bilal are in the lottery discussion, despite this being a relatively strong and deep draft, and I think that does bode well for them. They're going to look like completely different players in 3 or 4 years.
 
I actually think the pick swap of 9 and picks for 3 might be Portland's best option. Scoot is super not ideal if they keep Dame as one of their other building blocks is Simmons. They also only really have Nurkic (a negative contract) and Simmons (a guy they likely want to keep and may not have enormous value on the market) as salary matching. Once FA opens maybe some other avenues open but a trade for a star is tricky for them salary wise.

Like for Siakham it would have to be Nurkic and Simmons and Pascal is on an expiring deal. OG/13 for Nurkic/3 is really rich... they need to address center one way or another but it makes an even bigger hole there.

I think if Walker or Hendricks fell to 9 it would make it more likely we do a swap, but it would make sense for them to get a better fitting prospect and pocket some picks to use later in the season. They could use MLE and have more salary to attach to the picks when they move them. If they take Scoot into the season I think his value could decline in a weird backup or secondary role. Plus rookies typically struggle and sometimes there is the new car syndrome.

If you think Scoot has a good chance at being a star I think the premium is worth it.
 
default said:
Have the people bagging on Scoot even seen him play? Sure he isn't tall, but he probably isn't much different in size than Donovan Mitchell. Imagine Mitchell when he came into the league, but add better court awareness and vision, better passing, and more unselfish. Their bodies don't appear much different in build except Scoot might be a little more cut. Scoot's shooting is at least as good as Donovan was coming into the league. It is fair to say you don't want to give up Lauri and/or a bunch of first round picks, but don't pretend Scoot is either Muggsy Bogues or Spud Webb height or even just terrible.
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Shooting percentages are the end all be all unless we’re talking about GG.
 
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